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Abstract
We examine the differential impact of import prices on consumer and producer prices. This includes an analytical decomposition of factors, like distribution costs, oligopoly markups, and distribution sector market power that contribute to variations in pass-through. Differences between consumer and producer price pass-through is evidence of market power in the trade and distribution sector. We then examine these relationships in the euro-zone Members for the period 1996-2006. This sample is characterized by a common trade policy and identical exchange rate changes, as well as a well-integrated set of markets at the industry level with relatively segmented trade and distribution sectors. We quantify the transmission of border price changes, from both tariff changes and exchange rate movements, into both European producer prices and consumer prices. There is substantially more impact on European producer prices than on consumer prices. The degree of consumer price impact varies substantially across countries and products. Part of this variation in pass-through is linked to market structure in the retail and distribution sectors.